[tlbuild] Configure issues with texlive-20091107

[Angel Tsankov]

Karl Berry wrote:
> Angel,
> 
> To install TL, see http://tug.org/texlive/acquire.html.
> 
> Using the tarballs is not an easy or recommended way to do an
> installation.  They're there for developers.
> 
> As for the missing TLUtils.pm, that was a mistake I made in the 2008
> tarballs.  The pm files are in the 2009 tarballs.  (But don't bother
> going there.)

So, let me sum up the ways one can install TL:

1. over the Internet using the net installer;
2. from the iso image;
3. build the binaries from source using one or more of the tarballs.

Let's say I'm fairly acquainted with methods 1. and 2.  However, I find 
very little information about installing TL from source and I think this 
is the best way to go for my distro.  So, could you please answer these 
questions for me:

-- the Build script is located in the 'source' tarball.  Is it necessary 
to unpack any of the other 3 tarballs before running this script?

-- having built and installed the binaries (by running Build or 
configure && make world), do I have to download the texmf and texmf-dist 
directories from the SVN repo, or may I use the 'texmf' tarball instead?

-- what is the purpose of the 'extra' and 'bin' tarballs?  I guess 
copying the pre-built binaries (for my architecture) that are found in 
the 'bin' tarball is roughly equivalent to building and installing the 
'source' package.  Am I right?


Angel Tsankov